Day 4: TD Bank Slammed As Tar Sands Profiteer

March 19, 2013

March 19, 2013

The fourth day of the Stop Tar Sands Profiteers Week of Action starts with an unexpected surprise at a TD Bank in Washington DC early this morning. Three people locked themselves inside to protest TD Bank’s investments in tar sands. All three were released without charges. Also, we just got some brilliant photos from another TD Bank action in upstate New York this last weekend.

Tuesday, March 19 – Three People Lock Themselves Inside a TD Bank in DC

Early this morning three people locked themselves inside a TD Bank branch in Washington, DC. TD Bank is one of TransCanada’s largest shareholders and is bankrolling the toxic Keystone XL pipeline.

One protestor used a bike lock to attach his neck to the door outside while two others locked themselves in a barrel full of concrete just inside the lobby. Police arrived, shut down rush hour traffic on P street, and held up sheets to block the view of media. After each protestor was extracted they were released without charges!

TD Bank’s corporate greenwashed image as a community friendly institution is being tarnished more every day. People along the East Coast are taking action to expose this tar sands profiteer and send a clear message that TD’s investments in KXL are just as toxic as the contents of the pipeline. TD Bank must divest or continue to be met with resistance in the communities where it attempts to conduct business. Find a TD Bank location near you and let them know what you think about the 13,662,302 shares it owns in TransCanada.

Here’s a livestream interview with one of the blockaders and a video from the action:

A group of three dozen activists with props, propellers and signs formed a picket line outside the TD Bank on Washington Avenue. They passed out flyers and chanted slogans as passing motorists gave their support. “TransCanada is the multibillion-dollar corporation who’s driving the Keystone Pipeline project,” said organizer Morganne Montana. “We want to draw attention to the depth of this project, and encourage people to divest from TD Bank.”

In a demonstration organized by MN 350 and Idle No More about 150 people showed, up in the snow, to serenade Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar and ask her to vote “no” on Keystone XL.

“We do not want the XL pipeline going through the United States,” said Patricia Shepard of Idle No More Minnesota. “We’re not going to be beneficiaries from it. Plus, it’s dirty. It’s contaminating the lands. People are dying from cancers up in Alberta.” Read more here.

Sierra Club Delaware chapter held a tar sands banner and signs in front of the very place where the toxic tar sands are being held in rail cars as they wait to be unloaded and processed at the Delaware City refinery.

Newark, Delaware is getting railroaded by tar sands which are are not only more than 3x worse for our warming climate, but much more carcinogenic and polluting to refine.